What Is The Least Common Myers-Briggs Personality Type? Supposedly, This One Is The Rarest

We're obsessed with testing ourselves. From IQ tests to career placement quizzes, we test virtually every aspect of humanity, and our personalities are no different. Like many people, you've probably taken a Myers-Briggs personality test to figure out what your personality type says about you. But only about 1 percent of people score the least common Myers-Briggs personality type, and they're in some pretty sweet company.

Of the 16 Myers-Briggs types, INFJ, aka introversion, intuition, feeling, and judging, is the rarest type, accounting for roughly 1.5 percent of people who take the test, according to data from the Myers & Briggs Foundation. Also according to the foundation, the next rarest types are ENTJ (1.8 percent), INTJ (2.1 percent), and ENFJ (2.5 percent), while the most common are ISFJ (13.8 percent), ESFJ (12.3 percent), and ISTJ (11.6 percent).

But figuring out the nuances and small details of what exactly makes INFJs so dang rare can be tough. Here's a quick look at how the INFJ combo is different from other types.

Ann C. Holm, a life coach with a degree in psychology from the University of Michigan, asserts on her site that INFJs have complex personalities and are often mistaken for extroverts because of how deeply interested in people they are. But unlike true extroverts or other extrovert-appearing types, INFJs "will suddenly withdraw into themselves, sometimes shutting out those closest to them."

Holm adds that this abrupt change is necessary because INFJs need time to recharge and keep themselves from being emotionally overwhelmed by others, because they're so empathetically sensitive.

"This is perhaps the most confusing aspect of the enigmatic INFJ character," Holm says.

One side INFJs can always see, though, is the point of helping others and humanity at large. At the core of INFJs is a desire to ease people's suffering. As 16Personalities notes, "Advocates tend to see helping others as their purpose in life, but while this personality type can be found engaging rescue efforts and doing charity work, their real passion is to get to the heart of the issue so that people need not be rescued at all."

But as Holm pointed out, all that crusading and needing to change the world can cause INFJs to be overwhelmed with other people's feelings and needs, so if you're one of these rare folks, you should engage in a little self-care when you need to, and to not feel bad about indulging the multifaceted aspects of your type by withdrawing and recharging.